When the Minnesota Timberwolves traded for Rudy Gobert back in July 2022, it was a pivotal moment in the Anthony Edwards era. The organization felt that adding Gobert to their core and making him a central part of their mission would be a turning point that would change their trajectory and put them on the path of becoming a true championship contender.
For a time, that vision was fully realized. After a year of acclimating to a new team and seeing things come together around him in 2022-23, Rudy's defensive impact was maximized in 2023-24. He thrived as Minnesota's defensive anchor, and much of their success revolved around him and his strengths. He routinely posted impressive stat lines, and ultimately completed a campaign worthy of his fourth Defensive Player of the Year award.
The experiment of making Gobert work around Karl-Anthony Towns took a little bit to figure out, but when it came together, the results were glorious. Now, with a new teammate operating alongside him in the frontcourt, life has become harder for Rudy, and we are seeing that play out each time he steps on the floor.
It is safe to say that Julius Randle does not make things nearly as easy for Gobert just based on who he is as a player. That is one of the biggest factors that continues to play into Rudy struggling quite a bit this season.
Gobert has not been good enough offensively
The eye test and the numbers are telling us that Gobert has to be better on the offensive side of the ball. He is currently averaging his lowest field goal percentage since the 2017-18 season, and his fewest point per game average since his third season in 2015-16. Still, it does not feel like the issues he has right now are ultimately unfixable.
A lot of the problems we are seeing from him on a nightly basis right now are things like dropping passes in pick-and-roll, not going up strong enough to finish a layup or dunk, simply being out of position, and other avoidable errors. Much of these shortcomings are a result of Gobert being forced to play differently than last year based on the Wolves' personnel, and what this ultimately may come down to is just him making those adjustments.
It is obviously easier said than done, but I believe Rudy is talented enough to elevate his overall level of play by fixing these little things in order to become a positive on offense most every night once again. Things will likely never be as easy for him with Randle as they were with KAT, but Minnesota will not return to the level of a true Western Conference contender if Gobert remains a borderline liability offensively.